I'm getting a bunch of tomatoes today and I need some good spaghetti sauce suggstions. I like to cook by the seat of my pants, but figure input would be great.

What do you all put in made from scratch spaghetti sauce?

(sorry if I'm in the wrong thread shadows, but I'm in a hurry )

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In a large nonstick saucepan, combine tomatoes, garlic, basil, and sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered over low heat for 30 minutes. season to taste with pepper and salt(optional).

I generally use this as an easy sauce base for the following recipe which uses veggies and herbs and turns out well even if you are pressed for time. I improvise when I don't have all the ingredients either. Fresh seasonal vegetables are sauteed in vegetable stock instead of oil to release their flavours. Fresh herbs add an Italian taste to this savory tomato based pasta sauce.

I call it:

Italian Vegetables with Sauce.Here is a guideline, feel free to increase or decrease any portion of the herbs or veggies; this recipe is highly versatile, you may substitute any vegetable.serves 4

Heat a large skillet. If using canned tomatoes, heat all the ingredients except the pasta. Cover and cook over medium low heat for 15-20 mins, or until al dente. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well and serve with the vegetable sauce. Add chiffonaded basil at the last possible minute.

If you choose to make the base first, heat all the prepared vegetables and herbs, add 4 cups of the saucebase to the pot.(the remainder may be used for other recipes).Cover and cook over medium low heat for 15-20 mins, or until al dente. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well and serve with the vegetable sauce. Add chiffonaded basil at the last possible minute.

That's for people who like their pasta sauces sweet. I've also heard of using currant preserves with the meat drippings and tomato, for example, to make a sauce after roasting a brisket.

I prefer my pasta sauces on the spicy side, not sweet, and it's not low-fat, I warn you, though you can refrigerate it overnight after cooking so the fat rises and congeals, and then lift it off in one chunk, while still keeping the rich flavor. Better anyway -- the flavors meld overnight. This is a New England pork-based red sauce that the Azorians and Portuguese around the whaling port of New Bedford love. You can put it on pasta, or with more meat and peppers in it, serve it as a hot sandwich on long hero rolls (we call them "grinders" back home )

whisper of sugar, if you must, though the red onion and red peppers take care of it

salt to taste, near the end of cooking, though there's some in the sausage. Fresh tomatoes take up more salt than canned.

So -- once you know what's in it, it's predictable what to do. Chop the onion and peppers, and mince the garlic. In a big heavy-bottom stock pot with some olive oil and some of the fat trimming from the chops, saute these till the onion is transparent and the garlic is golden, and the peppers are getting soft. Cut the chops and sausage into chunks and add to the onions and peppers, and sprinkle in the dried herbs (I use close to a tablespoon combined. This is a big pot of sauce) and sugar if you must. Saute hot to seal the meat -- you may need a little more olive oil, although sausage will start to let off fat. Don't pour it off -- wait till the end to refrigerate it and let it rise. The spice mix in these sausages is what gives this sauce a taste like nothing else.

You're going to want to scoop some of the meat mix out and have a wee sandwich right then and there. Go ahead. and have some dry red wine too.

Add chopped tomatoes and tomato paste. Cook at medium heat for a half hour or until the tomatoes are mush, stirring occasionally and crushing tomatoes against the pot. Reduce heat to very low, and cook it down for a good few hours, until the sauce is much reduced and quite thick. It will turn rather dark red as well, not tomato-bright, and that is the way it is supposed to look. In the last half hour of cooking, add a bit more of the mixed Italian herbs (maybe 1/2 teaspoon) for a top note.